Utopian Communalism: a Comparison of 19Th and 20Th Century Phenomena in the United States

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science Volume 39 Number 1 Article 14 1973 Utopian Communalism: A Comparison of 19th and 20th Century Phenomena in the United States Truman David Wood Mankato State College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/jmas Part of the Political Science Commons, and the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Wood, T. D. (1973). Utopian Communalism: A Comparison of 19th and 20th Century Phenomena in the United States. Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science, Vol. 39 No.1, 27-29. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/jmas/vol39/iss1/14 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science by an authorized editor of University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Utopian Communalism: a comparison of 19th and 20th century phenomena in the United States TRUMAN DAVID WOOD* ABSTRACT - The utopian communal phenomenon has been present in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The longevity of various religious and secular utopian communal experiments is examined in terms of four organizational factors and the twentieth century communes are considered in terms of four ideals. The main stream of American society has assimilated nothing from these utopian communal experiments. The utopian communal phenomenon is not new. It is appear periodically in college newspapers and so-called un similar to the nineteenth century phenomenon when Ralph derground newspapers asking those involved in communes to Waldo Emerson wrote to Thomas Carlyle in 1840: "We are please contact the researcher to facilitate the study. Needless all a little wild here with numberless projects of social re to say, many communes disappear before the contact is form. Not a reading man but has a draft of a new community accomplished or many communes refuse to respond to such in his waistcoat pocket .... One man renounces the use of ads because they are weary of visitors from the outside animal food; and another of coins; and another of domestic world. Kathleen Kinkade in A Walden Two Experiment hired labor; and another of the State . ... " ( 1973) notes the reluctance of commune members to re There is a high degree of similarity between nineteenth spond to questionnaires and how the novelty of visitors soon century and twentieth century utopian communal experi wears off in a typical commune. ments. The organizational factors which explained the The estimates of the number of utopian communal ex longevity of nineteenth century utopian communal experi periments are many and varied and general'ly range from ments could be applied to twentieth century utopian com several hundred to several thousand . These estimates for the munal experiments. l 970's can be compared with nineteen th century figures Those factors were: I. strong, effective leadership; 2. an (Holloway, 1966). Holloway stated that there were more adequate financial basis; 3. screening of prospective mem than one hundred communities with a total membership over bers; and 4. an ideology, creed, or dogma which provided a I 00,000. These figures must be regarded as only crude in unifying basis. Thus religious utopian communal experiments dices of this kind of activity as empirical research in tabulat have generally survived longer than secular efforts lacking a ing and studying utopian communal experiments is ex strong ideology . tremely difficult, but the estimates do illustrate the point Richard Fairfield in Communes USA : A Personal Tour that during times of tension and upheaval in society there is a (1972) stated that a commune's contribution should not renewed interest in a more perfect form of social, political, necessarily be evaluated in terms of longevity. He argued that and economic organization. This interest manifests itself in if the members develop a greater awareness of self and the form of writing and reading utopian literature and also in others, then the commune must be considered a success. the form of utopian communal experiments. There has been Fairfield's value orientation is the individual. Success can be a marked increase in both forms in recent years. seen differently if other values are given top priority. Thus The communal experiment may come as a response to longevity has been selected, rather than Fairfield's value of some literary utopia. An example would be Kathleen Kin success, as the focus of this paper. kade's Twin Oaks, which was in response to B. F. Skinner's An examination of nineteenth century utopian communal ideas in Walden 1\vo. The utopian communal experiment experiments shows that there was a high incidence of organi may be a more generalized flight from the imperfections of zational fatality. Many of the communal efforts were of ex the ongoing society. The rejection of exist,ing society is often tremely short duration and there is little historical evidence a withdrawal-to-reorganize reaction. Typically several people of their organizational structure, basic philosophy, or other perceive their inability to change the policies and structures features. The same can be said of the utopian communal of modern American society and they choose to "do their experiments in recent years. own thing" in a secluded setting. They choose to establish Numerous efforts have been made to tabulate and study the perfect society in a microcosm rather than to futilely these American utopian communal efforts. Advertisements struggle toward the establishment of utopia in the macro cosm. Many times the utopian communal experiment is the *TRUMAN DAVID WOOD received the B.S. degree from Mankato (Minn.) State College; and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees combination of the impact of utopian literature plus the re from the University of Iowa. He was chairman of an advisory jection of American society . subcommittee of political scientists to the Governor's Bipar tisan Commission on Legishtive Reapportionment in Nineteenth Century Examples 1964-1965; a Fellow of the National Center for Education in Politics at the Republican National Convention in 1964; The utopian communal experiments of the nineteenth member of the Mankato (Minn.) Planning Commission since century might be classified broadly as either religious or 1967; and creator and narrator bf " Critics' Corner," a news analysis program on KMSU-FM . He is currently Professor of secular. Some examples of the religious type would be the Political Science at Mankato State College. Shakers, the Rappites, the Zoarites, Bishop Hill, and the Journal of, Volume Thirty-nine, 1973. 27 Aman a Society, one of the largest and longest lasting utopian The North American Phalanx of Red Bank, New Jersey, a communal experiments in U.S. history. This list is not com secular utopian communal experiment, was established in prehensive, but it does contain well known examples. Typical 1843 with less than eighty members and $8,000 in capital, of the secular category were Robert Owen's New Harmony, which could be classified as inadequate by the standards of Brook Farm, the Icarians, and the phalanxes of Albert Bris the Frenchman Charles Fourier (Holloway, 1966). The bane's Association movement, such as the North American Association movement of Albert Brisbane was built upon Phalanx in New Jersey. Fourier's principles, and Fourier had indicated that a phalanx Precise empirical data is largely lacking concerning the had to have at least 1,600 members and capital amounting to nineteenth century utopian communal experiments, but one million francs. Brisbane had reduced the membership some generalized conclusions can be drawn from our limited minimum to four hundred and capital of $400,000. Brisbane knowledge and brief resumes of some selected experiments pointed out that none of the phalanxes was a true test of illustrate the four organizational factors which contribute to Fourier's theory because none ever met even the minimum the longevity of such entities. requirements of Brisbane. Of the more than forty such ex Eric Janson led a group of Swedish immigrants in found periments, only three survived beyond two years. The North ing Bishop Hill in Illinois in I 846 (Holfoway, 1966). This was American Phalanx lasted the longest of any phalanx, a total a communal settlement with a religious dogma, strong leader of twelve years. ship from Janson, but an inadequate initial financial basis. The North American Phalanx did use screening of mem The community overcame its financial problem by way of bership, but it lacked a strong dogma or creed, and some industrious effort and because one member recovered several members departed in its ninth year on religious grounds. thousand dollars worth of debts owed him in Sweden. Fire destroyed their workshops and mills in 1854 and the Janson's leadership was removed when he was murdered by a financial loss plus lagging spirits brought the end of the member who probably would not have been admitted to the phalanx with the longevity record for the Association move group had proper screening been used. The death of Janson ment. in 1850 was followed by a brief period of prosperity for the There was no outstanding phalanx leadership the equiva group, but real estate speculation and other dubious financial lent of Father George Rapp, Christian Metz, or Eric Janson; practices of the post-Janson leadership brought an end to the although Albert Brisbane, Horace Greeley, and William H. community in 1862. There was also a rapid deterioration in Channing helped prepare the groundwork for the North the strong religious ties of the community following J anson's American Phalanx and visited it often. death. The Rappites' success was due to Father George Rapp's Twentieth Century Examples spiritual leadership and the administrative ability of his The twentieth century utopian communal experiments adopted son (Holloway, 1966).

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